


Chariot to Heaven

by MagisterShiryu



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Persona 5 Spoilers, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:54:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26325223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagisterShiryu/pseuds/MagisterShiryu
Summary: Because of a change out of his control, Ryuji Sakamato is thrust into the positon of leading the Phantom Thieves... For better or for worse.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Sakamoto Ryuji & Suzui Shiho, Sakamoto Ryuji & Takamaki Ann
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

Chariot to Heaven - Prologue

* * *

Akira Kurusu had always considered himself a decent person, at his core. For all that he joked around, he’d always been there when his friends had needed him, and he always tried to help them out in any way he could.  
  
It was that thought that occupied him as he quietly walked back home, after finishing up various scholarly activities, he heard a distinct scream that immediately pulled him from whatever fantasies that he’d been having. A woman’s scream for someone to back off.  
  
The black-haired boy immediately raising his gaze from the path home to where the sound was, he saw an expensive black car, and a man trying to tug on a woman’s arm… Akira needed no real deductive skills to know what was going on here.  
  
Instinctively, he felt an urge to go over and help her.  
  
And yet… He hesitated. It was none of his business and god knows what may happen if he intervened and _something_ went wrong.  
  
In another story, the young man would’ve chosen the harder option… But in this, he decided on the easier choice.  
  
Akira Kurusu hurried home, his footsteps echoing in his ears, the woman’s cries for help getting quieter and quieter.

* * *

It had been merely a week since school had restarted for Ryuji Sakamoto and he already found that he despised it. 

He'd expected that to some degree, considering what had happened near the end of the last term… But… It was hard to reconcile remembering being praised for his performance at track, to now being cursed at like he was some sort of psychopath. 

“Fricking Kamoshida…” The dyed blond-haired boy muttered bitterly, kicking a pebble as he ducked underneath an overhang to avoid the rain. The man had ruined the lives of so many, among those his and the track team, and he’d gotten off scot-free… If anything, his grip on Shujin had gotten stronger.  
  
And as far as Ryuji could tell, there was literally nothing he could do about it. All he could do was grit his teeth and bare it. For his mom, if nothing else.  
  
He pulled himself from his thoughts when he saw Ann Takamaki standing alone underneath an overhang. It felt almost bizarre to see her without Shiho, even if he knew that they didn’t share the same route to school.  
  
Glancing briefly at the rainy sky, and seeing that it wasn’t going to relent, the brown-eyed teenager reluctantly decided to get going. Even with his misgivings about Shujin, he didn’t want to get kicked out for being late or some bullshit like that.  
  
Stepping out into the rain, Ryuji felt a bizarre chill rise up his spine when he saw a distinctive, black car slow down as it approached Takamaki, who seemed to register the car with simultaneous tiredness and apprehension.  
  
The delinquent didn’t really know what overtook him at that moment, but he suddenly began to sprint as fast as he could towards Ann, trying to stop her from getting into that car. He was just so pathetically slow, compared to how he used to be.  
  
A sudden jab of pain surged through his bad leg, and he crashed to the ground with a distinctive yet dull ‘thud’.  
  
Just how pathetic was that? He thought, a surge of embarrassment, anger and humiliation rising from his gut, as he began to try and stand up. It was just a perfect start to his day, wasn’t it?  
  
“Ryuji?!” Ann cried out worriedly, her arm outstretched hesitantly. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I’m fine,” Ryuji muttered dismissively, as she pulled him up, briefly ignoring the sharp jab of pain and humiliation that welled up inside of him. "At least you've got an excuse now…"

"Huh?" She asked dumbly, before an understanding look dawned on her beautiful yet foreign features. 

"What's happened with Sakamoto?" An impatient voice rose from the car, almost making him snarl just at the sound of it. 

"Oh uh… He's just hurt himself," she answered perkily with a false smile as they approached the car. "It seems like he might need some help getting to school… Surely an amazing athlete such as yourself can understand not aggravating such an injury?"  
  
Ryuji saw with a slight scowl that the bastard was practically preening at Ann's compliment, before glancing over his limping form analytically for a short second. 

"Why not come in then, Sakamoto?" Kamoshida suggested, with the widest of smiles on his face, even as he casually shattered their efforts. 

As Ryuji wracked his mind for _some_ sort of excuse, he briefly felt his hand touch his utterly soaked clothing, even as Ann and he reluctantly began approaching the car. 

"And let me soak your car with my clothes?" The blond casually asked with a nasty smile, which widened when he saw the coach briefly glance backwards at his seats and then back at the soaked boy in front of him.  
  
A loud, pointed beep broke through the tension like a knife, and Ryuji saw with more than a little satisfaction that several cars had stopped due to Kamoshida’s antics. It was nice to see the man in a position of weakness for once.

"...You win this round, Sakamoto. You won't win another, are we clear?" The man quietly threatened with a nasty glare. 

"Maybe." Ryuji replied flippantly. "You're causing a traffic jam, haven't ya noticed?" 

"Tch." The volleyball star puffed dismissively before rolling up his window, quickly turning on his engine and driving off, leaving the two teenagers alone and drenched in the rain.  
  
Ryuji let out a small breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, feeling elated for the first time in a while. He’d finally done it! He’d gotten the upper hand on Kamoshida!  
  
“Thanks,” Ann said quietly, raising her eyes to look at him with a genuine thankful expression in her features. “You didn’t have to do that.”  
  
“Didn’t want that pervert alone with ya,” he gruffly replied, before grimacing as a searing pain rose through his leg. “Guess the rumors are wrong then about whatever deal you’ve got with him.”  
  
“You believed them?” Takamaki asked with a subtle harshness, raising an inquiring eyebrow at him.  
  
“Not really.” Ryuji answered honestly, even as he felt a pressure fall on him at her gaze. “You were never the type to go after someone like him.”  
  
A eerily heavy silence loomed over him, even if he had no idea why it had appeared. Ann was looking at him with judgement on her face… Before she smiled. “You’re not a bad guy, Ryuji.”  
  
“Uh… Thanks…?” The boy said, rather confused by… Whatever that was, before shaking his head. “What’s the time? We should prolly be going now.”  
  
“Good call,” Ann said as she brought out her phone, letting Ryuji spy the time… Before he cursed loudly, barely even getting a half-hearted knuckle to the arm from the panicking girl for his vulgar words. “We’re going to be late!”  
  
“I saw the time too, ya know!” Ryuji retorted loudly before stumbling once more without her support as she began to leave without him, making him panic. “W-wait!”  
  
“What-” Ann snapped irritatedly, only for her expression to turn downright apologetic as she saw him struggle to stand up. “Sorry! I didn’t think that you were actually, uh, hurt.”  
  
“I wish I was cool enough to pull something like that off and not feel what happens after.” The blond delinquent replied with more than a bit of self-pity, as he reluctantly grabbed her shoulder, feeling rather embarrassed about this entire situation. “You uh, remember the shortcut?”  
  
“That one that goes into the alleyways?” The part-time model asked, if only for confirmation.  
  
“D’you know any other ones?” Ryuji asked rhetorically, causing the girl to shoot him a glare that immediately made him shut his mouth, muttering a small apology. 

An almost comfortable silence settled on the duo as they walked towards Shujin Academy, the shortcut thankfully cutting a significant portion off the usual walk. Even if it was narrow enough to barely let two people walk through it side by side. 

Not that Ryuji ever walked to school using the normal way any more, ever since he'd discovered it halfway through his first year. 

"You do realize what kind of rumors we're about to get into, right?" Ann asked rather bluntly, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at him.  
  
“We both know that our school could make rumors ‘bout nothin’, so why’s it matter?” He replied dismissively. “It pisses me off, trust me, but… Can’t really do anything ‘bout it, so why bother worrying?”  
  
“That’s…” The blonde said, seemingly struggling to put a word to what she was thinking. “Surprisingly cynical of you. I remember you being way more positive in middle school.”  
  
“So were you,” the delinquent pointed out, immediately regretting the words when her gaze turned downcast. “Sorry. I guess we’ve both changed, huh?”  
  
“We have... Even Shiho has.” Takamaki mumbled, looking genuinely downtrodden. “She’s way more timid now, compared to how she used to be.”  
  
Ryuji couldn’t help but the slight snarl that rose from his throat. “Ain’t she training under Kamoshida?”  
  
Ann looked at him with a slightly wary look. “I know what you’re thinking but… He’s not like he was with the track team.”  
  
“It doesn’t matter if he is, if he’s pulling the same stunts with her that he does with you.” Ryuji retorted, making the girl quickly look away from him, a conflicted look in her eyes and general posture.  
  
What the fuck had that bastard done now? He couldn’t help but think, feeling the hand that was leaning against the wall clench.  
  
“I…” Ann tried to say, only for her to falter. “Can we talk about something else, please?”  
  
“...Sure.” The dyed blond boy answered after a brief moment, only for him to catch a glimpse of Shujin between the rooftops. “Well, might hafta wait - Shujin’s right over there.”  
  
Ryuji briefly tested his weight against his bad leg, feeling a slight twinge of pain, but nothing compared to what he’d been feeling scarcely a quarter of an hour ago.  
  
“Are you feeling a bit better?” The foreign girl asked as she carefully watched him, a bizarrely familiar look in her eye telling him to not lie.  
  
“I-uh, yeah.” The teenager struggled with his words a bit. What was with girls being so darn scary?! “Can definitely walk on it.”  
  
“Great!” Ann chirped perkily, the switch in gears making him blink rapidly. “But uh… We’re late so…”  
  
“...What you gettin’ at?” Ryuji asked her, feeling like he was missing something.  
  
“Come oooonnn,” Ann continued, even as her eyebrow twitched. “Just… Continue leaning on me, okay? Be convincing.”  
  
Understanding dawned on his face as he realized what she was getting at, a wide grin blooming on his face. “You are a genius!”  
  
“Shh,” the surprisingly conniving teenager replied, flushing red for a variety of reasons that were lost on him. "Try not to act too healthy, you'll blow our cover!" 

"Alright, alright," Ryuji said placatingly, only really needing to play up his limp a bit more. Just because he was walking, didn't mean he was walking well by any means… 

Exiting the alleyway, lead them to the rather unimpressive sight of Shujin Academy. It was a three storey tall building, with grey walls and even grey windows, with the only semblance of color coming from the various banners and postings on the front gates, and the flowers on the landing in front of the main doors.  
  
It felt and looked like a prison, Ryuji thought bluntly, worsened in his opinion by the two teachers standing in front of the gates, tapping their foots impatiently. 

“Takamaki! Sakamoto!” The black-haired supervisor yelled as soon as he spied them. “What are you doing so late?”  
  
“Ryuji tripped and hurt his leg in the fall, so I helped him walk back, Fuyuko-san.” Ann immediately piped up, making the supervisor falter and glance at the limping boy that was still leaning on her.  
  
The blond merely grimaced in reply. “Could I go to the nurse’s office then?”  
  
A sharp jab to his ribs added a quick if reluctant, “Please, Fuyuko-san.”  
  
Takashi Fuyuko glanced at his brown-haired compatriot, who Ryuji recognized as being one of the teachers for the first years, before nodding, his features softening. “Of course, Sakamoto. For the both of you, I’ll have a talk with Mister Ushimaru and Miss Kawakami about the reason for your delays.”  
  
Ryuji couldn't help but raise a somewhat incredulous eyebrow, even as Takamaki smiled widely, which looked somewhat less fake then usual. "Thank you, Fuyuko-san!" 

"Uh, yeah. Thanks." He offered, still somewhat uncentered by a teacher actually giving him a chance… Even if it was likely because the blonde at his side had been the one talking. 

"Take him to the infirmary, Takamaki," the balding man stated firmly, the sternness from before quickly returning.

Moving remarkably quickly past the teachers, as to not push their luck, the two teenagers pushed open the doors to find… That the school was practically empty. 

Ann let out a sigh of relief. "Our luck is still holding up…"

"I'm still surprised Fuyuko didn't get on our case if I'm being honest," the delinquent responded, briefly pondering if he was dreaming. "He was a real pain in the ass last year."

"Ryuji!" The blue-eyed girl exclaimed with a scandalized expression, which faded at his own deadpan look. "I mean you're right, but… People can change." 

"I know.” Ryuji admitted, briefly glancing away from her, remembering a dark-haired man with brown eyes. “Can we get goin’ now? Let’s not waste what little luck we have.”  
  
“Yeah, sure,” Ann said quietly, seemingly not intent on prying which he was thankful for. Thinking on his old man for more than a second was just an exercise in anger and unwanted introspection.  
  
The nurse’s office, thankfully, wasn’t that far away from the entrance, so the awkward silence that had followed their previous conversation wasn’t _that_ painful.  
  
Even if he had fidgeted nearly the whole way there, trying to think up some way of ending it...  
  
“Ann,” the teen had elected to say, before they entered the office. “Uh… Thanks. Ya know, for helping me out.”  
  
“You hurt yourself trying to help me, it was the least I could do,” the blonde replied with a small shrug, even as she smiled at him. “Not a lot of people would have even tried.”  
  
“I dunno ‘bout that,” Ryuji tried to humbly reply, even as his ego surged at the praise.  
  
“Sakamoto-kun, Takamaki-chan,” the nurse interrupted, pushing open the door with a surprising amount of ease, considering how small she was. “What is your business here? It is unusual to see you with someone, Sakamoto-kun, I’ll admit.”  
  
“What’s that mean?” Ryuji asked, his pride somewhat ruffled by the truthful statement. A stare from both Ann and the nurse made him relent however. “Fine, Namiko-san… I tripped over and Ann helped me get to school.”  
  
Namiko then raised a delicate eyebrow at Ann, who gulped. “I ah… Yeah! That’s what happened.”  
  
The red-haired nurse merely harrumphed. “Whatever the veracity of that story, your limp seems to be truthful, Sakamoto-kun. Take him over to a bed, Takamaki-chan, whilst I grab a few things.”  
  
Ann turned to Ryuji with a raise of her eyebrow as she brought him to the closest bed, Namiko disappearing behind a door. “I thought you hated the teachers here?”  
  
“I do… But she’s a friend of my mom, helped her out when she really needed it.” Ryuji answered simply. He couldn’t really hate her for that reason, even if she was just as responsible as everyone else in the faculty for Kamoshida’s current reign of terror in his view.  
  
“She seems to care for you, you know.” The girl remarked.  
  
“Doesn’t really matter, does it? Still complicit in whatever Kamoshida’s got going on.” The dyed blonde retorted sharply, even as her face fell at the mention of that bastard. Way to go Ryuji, he thought. “Sorry… Didn’t mean to remind you about him.”  
  
“It’s fine, Ryuji,” Ann replied somewhat more mutely then before, before the familiar click of a door opening immediately shut down the conversation, which he was relieved about surprisingly enough. 

“You are free to go, Takamaki-chan - I’ll write up a note if you need to. No use in you getting punished for a good deed.” The green-eyed woman said almost kindly, albeit without much fanfare.  
  
He couldn’t help but feel a slight surge of anger at the statement. If she was rewarding good deeds, then why was she hiding what Kamoshida did?  
  
It didn’t make sense, this weird conflict between what he saw of her, and what he knew she was ignoring… He was missing something.  
  
Thankfully, he was pulled from his thoughts by Ann smiling earnestly, not really budging from her position despite the olive branch of escape. “It’s fine, the supervisor already said he was going to write one for me and Ryuji. But, thank you for offering anyway, Namiko-san.”  
  
“It’s no problem, Takamaki-chan.” Namiko replied, not seeming at all perturbed by the news. She turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. “You know what to do, Sakamoto-kun - pull up your trouser leg to just above the knee.”  
  
Ryuji sighed and did what she asked, knowing quite well that he wasn’t about to get out of this one… As much as it grated him to admit it.  
  
The woman merely looked at his leg, at the rather sizable bruise that had formed there, and let out a small relieved sigh, that she hid with a frown. “You are quite fortunate, Sakamoto-kun - if you had fallen in a somewhat different way, you may have caused a fracture or something… But thankfully, it’s merely a particularly nasty bruise. I’ll give you some painkillers and you’re free to go.”  
  
“Thanks,” he muttered as she gave him a small bottle of pills, along with a small bit of paper which had her signature on it. “Uh… What’s the bit of paper for?”  
  
“To make sure that no teachers try to sanction you for possession or something else as equally ridiculous.” She replied quickly, glancing at her watch in a sudden panic. “Now I have a few bits of paperwork to deal with, so shoo!”  
  
Ryuji couldn’t help but blink in surprise even as he hauled himself out of there. “Alright, alright… Be seein’ ya then.”  
  
“Bye bye, Namiko-san!” Ann perkily said, even as the two were practically pushed out of there by the remarkably strong nurse, the door slamming in their face. “...That was kind of rude though.”  
  
“She gets like that when she panics,” the blonde said dismissively, absentmindedly popping a pill in his mouth. “Now that’s outta the way, we should prolly get to class before Ushimaru gets on my case.”  
  
“Yeah, he probably will,” Ann admitted, sympathetically tapping him on the shoulder as he slumped.  
  
“What about Kawakami? Had her last year as my homeroom and she was… Alright." Ryuji asked with some curiosity. 

"Depends on her mood, probably," the blonde answered with a small shrug. "She always seems so tired, so even if she was in the mood…" 

"Yeah, I gotcha." He replied knowingly as they reached the end of the stairs to the second floor. "Well… Guess I'll be seein' you." 

"I certainly hope so," Ann replied easily. "You know where me and Shiho'll be, right?" 

"Near the vending machines right?" Ryuji asked, in disbelief at the rather massive olive branch that he'd been offered. "If I ain't interrupting something, I'll hang out, yeah?" 

"Sounds good," the blonde answered with a genuinely wide smile, seemingly happy with his response. "Be seeing you around then?"

Ryuji merely grinned widely, offering an exuberant thumbs up as he turned around to leave, the blonde merely shaking her head in what was hopefully amusement. He didn't really trust what sort of shit he'd almost certainly spout out if he did open his mouth, so leaving it at that should be okay, right? 

… He really had gotten bad at socializing hadn't he? The teenager thought with no small amount of self-pity, eventually arriving in front of his classroom. 

Ryuji stopped for a moment and braced himself, knowing fully well what kind of looks he was about to get - not only for being late, but also for his irreverence among other 'defects'. 

Pushing open the door, and he almost cringed at the furious glare on Ushimaru's face. "Sakamoto! What are you doing so late?!" 

"I have a nurse's note, _sir,"_ Ryuji retorted with no small amount of attitude, feeling a bitter scowl rise onto his face as he pulled out the note, the glasses-wearing teacher snatching it out of his hand, reading it over silently. So he guessed that Fuyuko hadn't been able to keep up his word after all, he thought cynically.

An awkward silence descended over the classroom and the young man dared, if only briefly, to glance at his classmates who all looked… Anticipatory? Practically like sharks? 

Ryuji knew instinctively that something had happened in that moment, and he couldn't help but tense up.

"Namiko-san's note seems to be legitimate, so I suppose that you are excused." Ushimaru said, looking almost surprised. "A good action does not eliminate your other infringements however, Sakamoto."

"Yeah, yeah, can I sit down now?" The teen said, wanting nothing more than to punch something at this moment. Gritting his teeth, he added a reluctant, " _sir_." 

“Yes you can,” the balding teacher said dismissively, already turning his attention away from the blonde.  
  
Ryuji scowled fiercely as he walked towards his desk, thankful that he’d had the foresight to place himself right at the back and near the door… Now he only had to survive for the next…  
  
Glancing at the clock only made him sink into his chair, barely resisting the urge to head-slam his desk.  
  
Three hours… He had to survive three fucking hours of this?  
  
Might as well just let Kamoshida break his other leg at this point…

* * *

  
The bell finally rang, and Ryuji could not get out of the classroom faster. Whilst he’d known practically just from a glance that his class had been excited about _something_ , he hadn’t realized that it was about a rumor.  
  
Which was his mistake… This was Shujin Academy. The only thing the students ever got excited about was exams or rumors, and they were like sharks to blood for the latter.  
  
Feeling his stomach grumble loudly, Ryuji remembered what Takamaki had told him earlier, and briefly wondered if he should actually go - whilst he’d definitely appreciate their company, there was the fact that it’d probably only make the rumors worse.  
  
Glancing in his bag, he found to his displeasure, that the sandwiches that his mom had packed him had been crushed to pieces… Likely when he’d fallen over.  
  
Descending the stairs, he gritted his teeth as the voices rose as he left. “Man, who thought that Takamaki was so easy? Kamoshida and Sakamoto at the same time, seriously?”  
  
“Sakamoto definitely threatened her though - just look at what he tried with Kamoshida-san last year!”  
  
“So Takamaki goes after the athletic types? Nice to know…”  
  
As he reached the end of the corridors to the courtyard, Ryuji was barely two steps away from either punching one of them or shouting them down for saying such bullshit, all of his small amount of patience being put to the absolute limit. Pushing open the doors with all of his angered might, he stomped forward, the voices disappearing behind him as he did.  
  
He saw that the few students that were outside were still looking at him furtively, but he tuned them out with practiced ease, already moving towards where he wanted to be.  
  
“Yo,” Ryuji said easily, as he spied both Ann and Shiho near the vending machines, feeling himself grimace when he saw the sizable amount of bandages on the brown-haired girl. One of these days, he swore, Kamoshida was going to get his.  
  
“Hey!” Ann replied enthusiastically, already waving him over, only for her to falter back into the bench that the two girls were on. “Wait… I don’t need to introduce you two, do I?”  
  
“Not really, Ann,” Shiho said with a small smile, her light-hearted expression contrasting with the bruise on the side of her face. “How are you, Ryuji-san?”  
  
“I’m fine, I reckon,” Ryuji answered easily, leaning against the vending machine. “And uh… Call me Ryuji - the san just reminds me of the torture that’s maths.”  
  
“Isn’t every class torture for you?” Ann asked with a raise of her eyebrow.  
  
“If I remember right, ain’t the only subject you don’t do terribly in is English?” The teen retorted slightly annoyed.  
  
“That’s better then every subject!” The girl exclaimed.  
  
The two teens were interrupted by the distinct sound of Shiho letting out a genuine laugh, which made him glance at Ann questioningly. Her only response was to grin.  
  
“What’s er, so funny, Shiho?” Ryuji asked curiously, feeling himself get caught up in the atmosphere as he started to smile too.  
  
“No, no, it’s nothing… You two just look cute together, that’s all.” Shiho said with a mischievous look in her eyes.  
  
“What?!” The two exclaimed loudly, before glaring at each other. “Stop stealing my lines!”  
  
Shiho only seemed to laugh even harder at that, making Ryuji and Ann flush red in embarrassment.  
  
“Come on, did you have to say that?” The blue-eyed girl groaned at her friend, whose smile just seemed to grow.  
  
“On purpose too,” Ryuji added, shaking his head.  
  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just so easy to rile the two of you up, I couldn’t help it.” The brown-eyed girl said with a large smile. “Reminds me of our time in middle school, just a tiny bit.”  
  
The blonde seemed to have one of the largest smiles on her face, glancing at him with an incredibly thankful look on her face. He honestly didn’t know why, but… He also felt it didn’t matter as of right now.  
  
“I’m so hungry,” Ryuji couldn’t help but complain, feeling his stomach groan.  
  
“Don’t you have any lunch?” Shiho asked curiously.  
  
“Nah… My sandwiches got crushed when I fell.” The boy replied forlornly, remembering how nice they seemed that morning when his mom had given them to him.  
  
The two girls looked at each other for a brief moment, before they began rifling around in their bags.  
  
“Uh… What are ya doing?” Ryuji couldn’t help but ask.  
  
“Trying to figure out if there’s gonna be enough for you to eat too,” Ann replied simply as she brought out a box of something probably incredibly sugary.  
  
“I mean, ya don’t hafta… I can always buy something on my way back home.” The teenager tried to protest.  
  
“In several hours time?” Shiho asked pointedly, looking rather stern. “You’re an athlete too, you have to eat up or you won’t keep your gains.”  
  
“I mean…” Ryuji tried to say, only for his stomach to loudly growl. He did feel incredibly hungry and they _were_ offering. “Yeah, alright. Just don’t make yourselves hungry, kay?”  
  
It was perhaps one of the more bizarre lunches that he’d ever put in his mouth, but he’d certainly had way more fun compared to what he usually did… Which was just sitting on the rooftop quietly eating his sandwich, to be fair.  
  
Bantering with Ann and Shiho reminded him of the times before Kamoshida had arrived at Shujin, when things were just a bit more simpler.  
  
A loud, nervous cough pulled him from his thoughts and whatever discussion Ann and Shiho had been having (he’d tuned it out as soon as it turned towards more ‘girly’ subjects, he’d readily admit) and he turned to see Mishima standing there.  
  
The average-looking boy looked like he genuinely didn’t want to be here, and he briefly glanced at Ryuji with something approaching fear. “Suzui… Kamoshida-san wants to see you for some practice. He says that you’ll be excused from your classes.”  
  
“Hasn’t she got classes?” The dyed blond retorted with a glare, scowling fiercely, making the black-haired boy gulp. “He can wait until after school like-”  
  
“It’s fine, Ryuji,” Shiho said, any sign of the girl from earlier disappearing, her face now downcast and the light in her eyes dimming out. “I just… I just have to practice my spike some more. For the championships.”  
  
“He’s overworking you - you’ll never be ready for them if he doesn’t let you take breaks,” Ryuji said, gritting his teeth as he saw Shiho stare at him with admiration.  
  
“Ryuji…” Ann muttered, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s pointless… You know this.”  
  
His fists clenched, and he felt his face curl into a tense scowl. He didn’t want to admit it… It just felt like giving up.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Shiho said with a broken smile, making him turn towards her. He could tell that she was hiding her pain - he’d seen the same look in the mirror after Kamoshida had broken his leg. “I’ll be fine… It’s just practice after all.”  
  
A moment passed and Ryuji Sakamoto just stood there, like he was stopped in time. It felt like a choice was in front of him… To let this fly or try to summon the courage to stand up… For both his friend and all of the others who were suffering.  
  
“He’ll get what’s coming to him.” Ryuji muttered aloud, feeling a strange fire light up in his chest and spread throughout his body like a lightning bolt. Ann and Shiho stared at him, uncomprehending, whilst Mishima looked afraid. “I promise you that.”  
  
“I…” Shiho began, but it looked like she couldn’t think of anything to say to his declaration. She looked scared though, like she was afraid for him. Not of him however.  
  
“We gotta go, Suzui,” Mishima somehow found the courage to say, despite looking like he wanted nothing more then to not be here.  
  
Ann stared at him with a guarded look as the two volleyball players left the two of them alone. “You really believe that you can do something?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Ryuji admitted, the fiery feeling from earlier invigorating him in the strangest of ways, his phone briefly vibrating for some reason. “But I can’t stand for this… I can’t stand for Kamoshida and his bullshit! He’s already broken my leg, shattered my chances for a scholarship and ruined my life… I’m not gonna let him do that to Shiho, you or anyone else in Shujin.”  
  
“I…” The blonde said reluctantly, biting her lip with a nervous tension. “I believe you. I don’t know why, but I believe you.”  
  
“That pervy teacher is gonna get kicked out of his castle, just you watch.” Ryuji said, with a serious look… A moment that was ruined at Ann raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Hey, it sounded cooler in my head.”  
  
“ _Beginning navigation,_ ” a loud feminine voice suddenly rose from his phone, making him immediately pull it from his pocket and stare in utter incomprehension at it. Why the hell was Kamoshida, Shujin, Pervert and Castle in some kinda location finder app with some weird eye icon?  
  
“What did you do, Ryuji?” Ann asked, sounding utterly terrified.  
  
“I don’t know!” He exclaimed, raising his eyes off his phone to see that the world around them had changed.  
  
Instead of standing near vending machines and a bench in a corner of the school courtyard… He found himself in front of a tall massive tower with red brick walls, a bizarre purple-pink extremely thin fog seeming to evaporate from it.  
  
“Oh fuck.” Was the only thing that came out his mouth as the fear set in.


	2. Chapter 1

Chariot to Heaven - Chapter 1  
  


____//////<Unknown Location>\\\\\\\\\\\\____

  
"Oh fuck," Ryuji couldn't help but repeat, the impossibilities almost dominating his senses. His eyes noticed the tall tower that stood instead of Shujin's practice building, his feet registered the cobblestone-paved ground instead of the concrete of the courtyard and his face felt a distinct chill that'd be out of place in the warmth he'd felt scarcely minutes ago. 

"W-where did that thing take us?" Ann demanded, looking for all the world like she wanted to run away. He honestly felt the same. 

"I…" Ryuji tried to reply, glancing down at his phone as if the answer would materialize if he stared at it hard enough. "I don't know…" 

"Your phone." She said with a sudden clarity, making him look at her curiously. "Didn't it say something like 'beginning navigation'?" 

"I mean yeah," he answered with a frown, brandishing his phone at her. "But it just… Doesn't make sense! I've never seen this app before now, and it certainly doesn't look like there's a quit button or somethin'!" 

"So it wasn't there this morning?" The blonde asked as she tentatively grabbed it from his hand and began looking at it herself. 

"I think I'd notice that sorta icon - it's just so…" Ryuji replied, struggling to even qualify it. "Weird."

"I think disturbing is probably the better word," Ann idly mused as she began tapping his phone's touchscreen irritatedly and forcefully. "Urgh! This thing is useless! Why does it let you come here and not let you back out?" 

"Hey! Come on, don't break my phone over it!" The teen exclaimed, snatching the phone off of her. "Well maybe there's an exit at like… I dunno the entrance. Maybe this is just one of those bizarre escape games and we just gotta get out of here."

He wasn't really sure who he was trying to reassure more if he was being honest, but Ann seemed to relax somewhat. “Yeah… Has to be right?”  
  
“Exactly!” Ryuji said with a surprising amount of optimism, before he realized a critical flaw of his plan when he'd turned around. "But I have no idea where the entrance would be."

"Uh…" Ann hummed uncertainly as she stepped in front of him, looking around the desolate courtyard with a concentrated look on her face.

"Er… What are ya doing?" He asked with no small amount of confusion. 

"Trying to find out what direction to go in," She replied easily, even if she looked somewhat nonplussed. 

"How about we just try 'em all?" The troublemaker proposed, somewhat more nonchalantly now that he knew what she was doing. "We ain't about to find out where we are by just standing here."

"I mean… Yeah we could," Ann replied, glancing around the foreign yet familiar courtyard. "But I already figured it out."

"Well, I'll follow you then," Ryuji said with a small shrug, putting his hands in his pockets in an attempt to normalize the situation.

It didn't work, a subtle chill settling even deeper into his bones as the two teenagers walked down some stairs that had been hidden by a bunch of boxes that he should've probably noticed were just a bit out of place. 

"I wonder why anyone would put us in this weird place." Ann stated, thankfully breaking the silence that had settled on them. "Just seems too… Off, you know?" 

"Yeah. Something certainly ain't right about this place," he replied, frowning at her raised eyebrow and unsubtle look at the medieval wooden door that stood in front of them. "Besides physically, alright? I dunno, stuff like the air ain't all there or the ground feeling like a solid cloud."

"I…" The blue-eyed girl opened her mouth, only to close it as her eyes widened. "Now that you say it, yeah, I feel it too."

"All of this just makes me wanna go home…" Ryuji couldn't help but groan, feeling himself slump somewhat, only for a thought to briefly invigorate him. "And punch whoever thought to put us in here."

"You'd have to start with yourself, wouldn't you?" Ann asked innocently, making him almost let go of the door handle. 

"Aw, come on! It was just an accident, I dunno what I even did." The teen protested as he moved to open the door. 

"I was only joking." Ann said seriously, patting him on the shoulder. "Though it doesn't surprise me that you're the one that got some weird app like that."

"You wish you were as special as me." Ryuji retorted without much heat.

"Special in the bad luck sense?" The blonde shot back, skewering him verbally with ease. 

He only let out a defeated sigh, knowing when he'd been beaten, and also knowing that if Ann was anything like she was in middle school, it was pointless to even try to resist. 

Pulling the door open with a not-so mighty heave, the teen glanced at the interior of the castle… And two weird looking armored people with blue masks, who were glancing between each other and at him, their hands outstretched towards the door.  
  
Ryuji could only blink. “Uh… Who the hell are you guys supposed to be?”  
  
“Ryuji? What’s going-AH!” Ann yelped, as she stared at the sword-wielding knight.  
  
“Don’t do that next to my ear!” He protested loudly, wincing at the sudden pain in his ear.  
  
“ ** _Uh…_ ** ” One of them mumbled, confusion settling into its rather massive frame. “ **_You’re not meant to be here!_ ** ”  
  
“I mean-” Ann was about to say, only for the other knight to interrupt her.

“ ** _I’d say that too, but look!_** ” The blue masked ‘man’ said, pointing at the blonde to his right with an almost fanatical rigidness.  
  
“Hold up,” the teen interrupted with no small amount of impatience. “What the hell does Ann have to do with this place?”  
  
“ ** _Be quiet, knave!_** ” The two knights yelled, immediately brandishing their swords at him.  
  
Ryuji gulped in abject terror, staring at the _very_ real blades that were right in front of his face.  
  
“Uh… Uh,” Ann said with a fearful look, glancing between the two knights and himself, briefly clearing her throat. “We were allowed to be here…”  
  
She glanced at him with urgency clear in her blue eyes, and he could only gesture discreetly yet wildly at their armor, hoping that he hadn’t been noticed by these weirdos.  
  
“By the ah… ruler of this place.” The blonde girl continued with a blatantly obvious fake cheer, even adding a nervous laugh which merely echoed around the empty room. “He er… allowed us to explore?”  
  
_Did she have to phrase that as a question?!_  
  
“ ** _I guess that explains why you’re out and about, Princess…_** ” One of the knights stated trustingly, briefly putting his sword down to scratch its… his(?) chin. “ ** _But what about the knave? I thought the King had taken care of him months ago!_** ”  
  
Ryuji barely had the time to open his mouth for a foul retort, for Ann to immediately put her hand in front of it, a voice coming out of her that was probably supposed to be dominating, he guessed. “Yes, well… Uh… This _knave_ has been accompanying me! Yeah, I’ve been teaching him some manners! Isn’t that right, _Sakamoto_?”  
  
He couldn’t help but give her a distinctly unimpressed side look at that, dryly pulling her hand away. “Yeah… For sure, the Princess has really been teaching me a lesson.”  
  
The particularly violent punch to the arm was probably deserved, but he still hissed in pain all the same. 

" ** _Hmm… I'm not sure if the King would think it wise._ **" The second knight stated, looking between them with a suspicious slant to his mask. 

Ryuji could only scowl, finding the words uncomfortably familiar even if he couldn't figure out why. This whole 'King' business was way too suspicious for his liking. 

"I mean he was acting up - so I took matters into my own hands," Ann said with cheer, before staring him down with what was probably meant to be harshness. "Wouldn't you agree, Ryu- Er, knave?" 

"Don't worry, I'll behave now," he replied, with some bravado he didn't feel. He was meant to be an unruly prisoner of some kind so… 

" ** _Take a better tone with the Princess or I'll be forced to execute you!"_ **The one from earlier piped up, brandishing its sword at him once more.

"Alright, alright! Just calm down." Ryuji placated with his hands raised, feeling his voice about to crack. That was definitely the wrong play, to say the least. "Me and the uh… Princess, we'll be going now." 

"I have to bring him to the dungeons after all," the blonde added, immediately grabbing onto his arm with a surprising amount of strength. 

" ** _I still think it'd be-_ **" the suspicious knight started to say, only to be interrupted by his more trusting partner. 

" ** _Come on, it's the Princess! She can wander around here as she wants, right?_ **" The masked swordsman interrupted, making him and Ann nod in agreement.

Raising his hands in an attempt to be conciliatory, the boy began to reassure them. "Like I ain't about to-" 

" ** _And if you really are worried, we can just chain him up!"_ **The knight continued cheerily, making him immediately falter with his eyes wide. 

"What?! You… You can't just do that!" Ryuji immediately shouted. He was _not_ about to let himself be at the mercy of these maniacs!

" ** _Do you really think we'd just let you wander around with the Princess?! Only may our liege forgive us for such a lack of foresight!"_ **The mistrustful guard retorted with a surprising amount of gusto. 

" ** _Couldn't have said it better myself!_ **" The naïver one added, giving its partner a pat on the back. 

"You guys really don't have to do that," Ann tried to say, looking at him with genuine worry in her eyes, having come to the same conclusion as him. "He's really not about to attack me."

" ** _We're not taking the risk, especially not with you!_ ** ” The suspicious knight proclaimed, making the other guard nod enthusiastically along with him. “ **_Alright, you stay here with the prisoner and the princess, whilst I grab some chains… There’s got to be some around here right?_ ** ”  
  
“ ** _I mean, why are you asking me? I’m always forgetting where they are._ ** ” It replied with a nonchalant shrug as this was a usual occurrence.  
  
The guard merely shook its head in annoyance before loudly stomping off, seeming like he’d had enough of its partner’s antics, the loud clang of his footsteps echoing down the hallway, which looked distinctly off putting with the heart-shaped patterns in the wallpapers.

Seeing an opportunity as the knight began to awkwardly twirl its sword in the silence that ensued, he discretely nudged Ann, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.  
  
Nodding his head to the door, then to their masked watcher, and then back at the door, he felt a mischievous grin rise to his face. It was probably the bluntest play they could make, but he definitely didn’t intend to get chained up, in what was almost definitely dangerous territory.  
  
Ann merely let a small smirk rise to her face, seemingly already having an idea similar to his own… Or at least he hoped so anyway.  
  
It was weirdly thrilling pulling off these sort of stunts, Ryuji had to admit, as he watched Ann clear her throat, grabbing the knight’s attention. “So… What kinda things happen in this castle?”

“ ** _Uh… I would have thought you’d already know about what happens here, Princess?_ **” It said confusedly.

“I mean, uh, I know what happens in the higher echelons, but not what you grunts are doing, so…” Ann hastily corrected, as the two of them inched closer to the door, the masked knight looking at them with curiosity.  
  
“ ** _I mean… It ain’t that interesting… We just do our duties, like executing intruders, those who disobey our liege’s laws, and punish the prisoners._ ** ” The armored swordsman replied pridefully, seemingly too caught up in his own daydream to notice them.  
  
As soon as Ryuji’s hand touched the door frame, he knew that they had to act fast. Grabbing the first thing that came to hand as he reached next to the door, he found some sort of volleyball and threw it right at the guard’s face.  
  
“ ** _AH! The Prisoner’s attacking me!_ ** ” It yelped in surprise, the confetti seemingly briefly blinding it, letting the two teenagers rush past the door, and slam it shut. Ryuji immediately began to place his back against it, forcing his entire body against it.  
  
“Come on, help me block the door!” He yelled as it charged against the door, barely able to keep the door shut. 

Ann almost immediately began by moving the wooden bookshelf that he'd grabbed that volleyball from. "I hope this will do…" 

" ** _STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!_ **" The guard bellowed in anger, its voice suddenly lowering and becoming far more demonic. 

"That's perfect!" Ryuji exclaimed, reaching out with one of his hands to help her push it towards the door.

Grunting in exertion at the double duty he had to fulfill, he felt a surge of relief when he saw that they'd managed to put it against the door, as he pulled and leapt at the same time.

The bookshelf slammed firmly in front of the door and the teen narrowly avoided falling over, a wide grin on his face. "Hell yeah! We did it!”  
  
“Yeah, we did!” Ann cheered happily, pumping her arm in excitement as the guard began to shout incoherently behind the door. “I seriously can’t believe that we got away with that…”  
  
“If I’m being honest, neither can I.” The troublemaker answered giddily, feeling excitement rise up in him at pulling off such a stunt. The shuddering of the door under the pressure from the other side firmly wrenched him in reality however. “But we gotta go before more of those dudes come - ‘cause I dunno if we can pull the same trick twice.” 

The increasingly disturbing sound of boots clanking against the cobblestone floor, echoing from a corridor that was just down from their position in the hallway, made Ryuji’s eyes widen, glancing mutely at Ann’s scared yet fiery look.  
  
Without a single sound escaping his mouth, he slammed himself into a crouch behind one of the various sofas that were dotted along the walls.. Ann immediately followed suit, quietly slinking down to the floor underneath a table with a surprising amount of agility.  
  
The sound of boots slowly approaching their location was making Ryuji’s heart beat faster, his palms sweaty in front of a possibility. He hadn't felt this nervous earlier, but there'd been a safety net in the form of Ann's weird deal with this place… 

Which he'd then gone and ruined.

_Great going, Ryuji._

" ** _The intruders… The King…_ **" The guard muttered lowly, terrifyingly close to where he'd hid.

" ** _The King, the intruders…_ ** " It repeated ominously, with a monotone tinge to its voice, as it slowed to a stop right in front of Ryuji’s eyes, at the end of the corridor. The slow metallic clangs of its armor echoed in his ears as he stared upon the blue mask that seemed to be looking straight at him.  
  
The knight began to slowly walk back, each footstep seeming like an eternity to the fearful teenager, whose breath seemed to catch on his throat, his heartbeat becoming faster and faster.  
  
It passed him and for a brief utterly terrifying moment, he thought that a hand would come out from above, grab him and that’d be it. But for whatever reason, it simply walked away, the clank of its boots getting further and further away.  
  
Ryuji grabbed the arm of the chair he’d hidden behind to steady himself as he stood, feeling like his legs would give out if not supported. It was a terrifying realization to know how close he’d been to getting caught, and not more than a little confused as to why he _hadn’t_ been caught in the first place.  
  
“Ryuji… Are you okay?” Ann asked, looking at him with what looked like genuine concern, her hand hovering uncertainly near his shoulder.  
  
“No, I’m not! This place is a goddamn nightmare and I got no effing clue what to do about it!” He snapped harshly, immediately regretting it when he saw Ann recoil, her eyes narrowing.  
  
“Don’t snap at me about it - we’re both in the same boat, Ryuji!” The blonde retorted angrily, her arms crossed in not-so-silent admonishment.  
  
“I-I know. I’m just… I’m just _scared_ .” Ryuji admitted, not particularly wanting to admit it. “I should have gotten caught there but I’m not, and I have no idea why and that's...”  
  
“We just have to get out of here,” she said comfortingly after a brief moment of awkward silence, twirling around one of her pigtails with her finger. “And… I think that you know what we have to do to make that happen. You did get us out of that situation with the guards after all.”  
  
He couldn’t help but blink owlishly at the encouragement, a small genuine smile rising on his face. “Thanks, Ann.”  
  
She smiled perkily at him before rather brusquely motioning towards him. “Well, it’s your turn now.”  
  
Turning away from her at her behest, Ryuji looked down the hallway that the guard had walked down earlier, and narrowed his eyes. He had a bit of an idea where to go next, and if his hunch about how this place worked was right…  
  
He merely hoped he was right.

____//////<Shujin Academy - Gymnasium>\\\\\\\\\\\\____  
  
Shiho couldn’t help but let out a shattering breath as she stepped into the locker room, wincing at the twinge of pain in her side. Whilst it wasn't unusual for training to hurt - _it was meant to, right?_ \- and yet…

 _No… It was to prepare them for the championships_ , she thought, ignoring the spark of doubt that rose through her. 

As she began gingerly changing out of her volleyball attire, Shiho couldn't help but look around at her other teammates and feel as if she'd gotten off relatively lightly. 

Whilst she'd only gotten a particularly nasty hit to the side, they'd gone through nearly every spectrum of injury besides anything that'd be permanent. 

She… She had to ask. She wasn't their captain, but she was their teammate. 

"H-how are you all?" Shiho asked quietly, almost flinching at how her voice echoed around the silent room. 

"We're… We're okay, Suzui-senpai, I think." A pink-haired girl replied after a brief moment, with a grimace that attempted to be a smile. "We just have to get better, right?" 

Despite sharing her opinion, Shiho couldn't help but briefly look down at the ground in discomfort, Ryuji's words from earlier in the day echoing in her head. "Y-yes, Midori-kouhai. We just have to get better."

"And any attention from Kamoshida-kun is better then nothing…" The girl continued, closing her eyes briefly as if to memorize it. 

The other girls who'd only been absent-mindedly listening up to that point, all showed their agreement despite the emptiness in their eyes as they said it. 

Shiho could only hear Ryuji's words echo in her mind.

_'He’s overworking you - you’ll never be ready for them if he doesn’t let you take breaks.'_

_No, it's just… Preparation…_

_'He'll get what's coming to him, I promise you that.'_

_But-_

"Suzui-senpai?" Midori asked, pulling her from her thoughts almost instantly. The girl seemed slightly worried for her. "You spaced out there, you alright? We gotta get back to class in a bit." 

"I-I… Yes. Just let me finish changing and I'll be there." Shiho replied slowly as she began to put her uniform back on, distinctly feeling that something was wrong. 

_I already know what's wrong_ , she thought, even as she registered an uncomfortable weight settled on her stomach.

 _What can I do about it though? I’m stuck…_ Shiho added mentally, as she realized what this weight on her stomach was.  
  
Despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it took me a month to write this, and I got only 70 percent of the last chapter done, in terms of word count but... I'm kinda happy with this chapter.
> 
> My thoughts are mainly about Shiho's section, as it's my first attempt on... Something such as that, and my first attempt to well... Write suspense, I suppose. Or horror. I'd classify it as horror, in a way, but what do I know?
> 
> So... What do you guys think? Of both the chapter itself, and on Shiho's bit? I'm always welcome for criticism, comments and otherwise.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: It's safe to say that nothing in Persona 5's plot is gonna go according to plan.
> 
> And it actually won't all be Ryuji's fault surprisingly enough.


End file.
